Courteney Cox Opens Up About That Emergency Plane Landing

Friends alum Courteney Cox got candid with Extra in a new interview about the scary emergency landing that she and Jennifer Aniston, along with several of their friends, endured on Friday, Feb. 15. Aniston’s private plane was en route to a girls’ getaway in Cabo San Lucas when the jet lost a tire shortly after takeoff in Los Angeles. The group was celebrating Aniston’s 50th birthday.

Cox spoke openly about the heart-pounding emergency landing at Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California.

“I’m not afraid of flying at all, my dad was a pilot, but I was really scared because when we were taking off, we heard this really loud bang,” Cox shared during her latest interview with Extra. “I was like, ‘Oh, that sounds like we should probably check that tire.’”

Cox continued, “There was no tire at all, there was no wheel. Luckily, there are two wheels on each side and two in the front. I have to say, we were in the air for four hours, burning off fuel and just thought of what it is going to be like when we land.”

“It was a really smooth landing,” she added.

During the harrowing incident, Cox said she texted both her daughter, Coco, 14 (her child with ex-husband David Arquette) and her boyfriend, Johnny McDaid.

“I sent a little text to Coco, ‘I love you,’” Cox recalled. “I didn’t say why, and to Johnny. I told him everything that was going on and I FaceTimed him after.”

Last week, the Ontario International Airport tweeted about the emergency landing, “ALERT: ONT and the City of Ontario Police and Fire Departments are currently on alert for an incoming aircraft. More information to follow.” The airport followed that with a second tweet acknowledging that the Gulfstream jet “landed safely.”

Cox seemed in good spirits despite the incident. She also told Extra that the birthday bash in Cabo continued as planned, with a group gift presentation: “A bunch of us got [Aniston] a pottery wheel and lessons, even though she’s a great artist, and a table — a big, beautiful antique table.”

We’re just relieved that our favorite Friends are safe, sound and back on the ground because this sounds too nerve-wracking for us.